


A Year of Change

by SurpassingMorning



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 04:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13182222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SurpassingMorning/pseuds/SurpassingMorning
Summary: A late night meeting on New Year's Eve with a new neighbor sparks a whirlwind of change Nico never expected. Well, at least Will was pleasant to be around...





	A Year of Change

**Author's Note:**

> My PJO secret Santa for freyabookworm over on tumblr. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to rinarraven for beta reading this!

If January was supposed to the the month of new beginnings, Nico thought, then this was a shit way to begin the new year. 

He slowly navigated his way through the cluttered living room, weaving past second hand furniture to reach the kitchenette. Hazel and her boyfriend, Frank were out celebrating New Year's with friends, and Nico had turned down her offer to come; he was sure his mournful aura would kill the mood. Besides, he’d end up stuck in some dark corner, forgotten by everyone.

Instead, he’d celebrate by eating day old pasta at eleven fifty at night while watching old holiday reruns on TV.

He made such wonderful life choices.

That plan was familiar to him. Bianca...the same thing happened to him with her last year. She had promised him that she'd just be out for a few hours with some new friends from work, and that she’d be back in time to eat dinner (albeit a late one) with him like always.

But she never came back. That same evening, Nico had received a visit from a police officer - Bianca had died. It was a car accident, they had told him. As Bianca and her friends were on the sidewalk, a truck had slipped on an ice patch and skidded out of control. It had hit Bianca, and she had been crushed to death in a matter of minutes. She never had a chance.

Instead of family, Nico had a funeral for Christmas.

Nico knew Bianca (and his mother, if he thought about it) would want him to be at least a little more optimistic. They might have wanted him to consider that fact that the funeral gave him a chance to connect with their half-sister, Hazel, who Nico hadn't seen since he was five and she was seven. They would’ve liked him to remember that Hazel had offered him a new place to stay once his old apartment became to costly for one person. And they’d have liked to remind him that it was through Hazel he had the chance to start over.

But he was not selfless like that. If he were, Bianca might not have died. After all, he had clung onto her so tightly once their mother had died, he had choked the freedom out of her life. Maybe if he hadn't, she wouldn't have felt the need to stay up and have fun for herself just _once _, and she would’ve still been alive.__

____

A shrill beep emitted from the microwave, and Nico sighed. You sowed, he thought, and now you reap.

____

A piercing knock echoed through the apartment. Nico rolled his eyes and set the hot bowl on the counter. He swore, if it was a drunken New Years party goer who decided to prank him or something…

____

Nico wretched open the door. “What is it?” he snapped.

____

Standing at his doorway was a flustered young man in plaid and jeans. He was around Nico's age, with bright curly blond hair and blue eyes. For some reason, he held a bright red cookie tin in his left hand. In essence, his complete opposite - at least in appearance.

____

Nico suddenly felt his neck heat up. He suddenly felt underdressed, in his black hoodie and sweatpants.

____

“I didn't mean to disturb you like this,” the man said. His voice had a slight twang to it, and Nico had no idea why he just noted that. “But, uh, Percy told me you had just moved in.”

____

Percy. Even a year later, that name made Nico feel queasy. He frowned.

____

“You’re a year late,” he said coldly. “I moved in _last _December.”__

______ _ _

The man gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, this is awkward. I took a gap year so I could head down to Texas and help my ma out, you see, and I just got back yesterday.”

______ _ _

Nico cocked his head. “How come I didn't see you?” he asked.

______ _ _

“I spent all of yesterday sleeping - jet lag and whatnot - and I live on the seventh floor,” the man said. He forced a smile and held out his hand. “Anyways, I'm Will Solace. Nice to meet you…?”

______ _ _

“Nico...Nico di Angelo,” Nico filled in. He thought he had heard that name in the passing before. Then again, a lot of people lived in Olympia Apartments, so a lot of names got thrown around.

______ _ _

“Ah, are you Hazel’s brother? Percy mentioned you before.”

______ _ _

_Of course he did. _At this point, Nico was beginning to feel exhausted. Maybe it was Will’s general cheeriness (he wasn't used to such optimism!), or the fact that it was around a minute to midnight, but all Nico wanted to do now was curl up and watch TV. By himself.__

________ _ _ _ _

“I’m sure he has,” Nico replied curtly. His hand edged towards the doorknob. “Look, I'm glad we got to meet and everything, but it's kind of late…”

________ _ _ _ _

Will snapped to attention, blinking rapidly a few times. “Right. Well, um, before I go -” he coughed and held out the cookie tin. “I made some sugar cookies as a 'Welcome to Olympia Apartments’ gift. They're...they're lactose free too, in case you wanna share them with Frank and Hazel.”

________ _ _ _ _

Nico gingerly took the offensively bright cookie tin. “Thanks...Will. Happy New Years.”

________ _ _ _ _

As if on cue, shouts of 'Happy New Years’ reverberate throughout the building, along with several sharp popping sounds Nico was sure were explosives. Will glanced at the ceiling and sighed.

________ _ _ _ _

“Happy New Years to you too,” he said. Then he pursed his lips. “I...I should head out. The Stolls probably smuggled in some fireworks in again.”

________ _ _ _ _

Nico quirked his eyebrows. “Fireworks? Again?”

________ _ _ _ _

Will laughed - a genuine, clear laugh this time, not some forced chuckle. “Yeah. They did it before, last March or April, I think,” he said. “Anyways, I should go up to see if anyone's hurt.”

________ _ _ _ _

“Are you a med student?” Nico asked.

________ _ _ _ _

Will shook his head. “Well, soon to be med student,” he corrected. “Gap year and all. But I do know First Aid and all that jazz.”

________ _ _ _ _

“I see.”

________ _ _ _ _

Will flashed him a smile, and Nico felt a stab of heat break out across his back. “Whelp, Happy New Years to you too, Nico,” he said cheerfully. “It was nice meeting you - maybe we can meet up again sometime?”

________ _ _ _ _

Nico's mind immediately went into overdrive. He couldn't remember the last time someone had wanted to meet up with him again…

________ _ _ _ _

“Uh, yeah. Sure. I’ll tell you when,” he managed to say. Will nodded and smiled once more before he strode off. As soon as his back had disappeared around the corner, Nico closed the door and collapsed onto the couch. He opened the tin and took one of the cookies out of the wax paper wrapping. They were still warm to the touch and smelled fresh.

________ _ _ _ _

Will must have just baked them. Nico wondered why he'd spend time baking cookies for a new (well, not really…) apartment neighbour when any other person would’ve just used store bought ones. Then again, no ordinary person would welcome him to the building at midnight either.

________ _ _ _ _

Nico took a bite of the cookie. It was crumbly and sweet, like bruttiboni. He mentally noted to himself to ask Will for the recipe later - he had forgot the last time he had eaten fresh pastries such as these.

________ _ _ _ _

Nico then spent the first few minutes of his new year trying to forget the anticipation he just felt by thinking about seeing Will again.

________ _ _ _ _


End file.
